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When first home buyer and building designer Janik Dalecki bought a dumpy little Maylands cottage, his friends thought he had lost the plot. “The house ticked all my boxes and I instantly saw what potential it had,” he says. “But family and friends thought I was crazy and said things like, 'it’s a bowl-over'!”

But Janik, who runs his own business Dalecki Design, was undeterred. He’d been searching for a first house to buy for ages and it felt like it was taking forever (been there, dude). “At the time I was actually looking at Victoria Park as I wanted to be close to the city, cafe strips, a train line and wanted something I could either renovate or add to,” he says. “Vic Park seemed to tick all these, and the area has so much character which I absolutely love. Along with this was the fact I grew up around that area so I knew it quite well and felt comfortable there.”

But when it came to the kind of house Janik wanted, Vic Park property prices weren’t so kind to his budget and so, like many of us first home buyers, he widened his search area. “I stumbled across this pocket in Maylands that I really liked,” he says. “By chance this property came up, which I fell in love with as soon as I drove by it.” It was a small 1940s two bedroom cottage, and Janik was in his early 20s when he bought it in 2012.

While Janik says he tried very hard to buy a first home with his head not his heart, he admits it didn’t quite go according to plan! “I wouldn’t say I was looking for a character home but I definitely was drawn to the older character areas and the homes in these areas,” he tells me. “Some properties I looked at were not character homes but every time I stumbled across a little character gem my heart did stop for a second! I tried to avoid falling for a house as I didn’t want to become emotionally attached and let it become an emotional purchase, as I was on a pretty tight budget to be able to afford the property and then begin renovating. Easier said than done! After seeing this one I was in love haha.”

He was possibly the only one. “A shack, a den, a rundown cottage - these are just some of the PG-rated descriptions friends and family would use to describe it,” he laughs. “I was a little more positive as all I could see when I looked at it was all the possibilities and how gorgeous it could look when renovated.”

Sticking with his gut instinct, Janik began renovating straight after he moved in and now has a truly awesome house with a feel that matches his friendly personality.

What I like so much about this house is that it’s cool and styled, but isn’t pretentious or precious. I’m not surprised when I learn it’s become a favourite house for his friends to hang out at. “I love having friends over for dinner,” says Janik. “It is such a relaxed place to entertain with the great connection between the kitchen and the dining room. Even on more casual occasions I can comfortably have friends over in the lounge room and I can be in the kitchen and still be part of the conversation and entertaining.”

BEFORE: The house was a rabbit warren of dark rooms.

BEFORE: The home's layout didn't make the most of its north-facing rear.

WARHOL WOULD LOVE IT: Let’s talk about THAT splashback tile! Janik used these Andy Warhol-inspired mosaic tiles. If you look closely you can see his famous Campbells Soup and Marilyn Monroe images. You can get these tiles from Beaumont Tiles. Photos by Dion Robeson of Dion Photography.

My favourite feature in Janik’s home is the wall of built-in cabinetry in the open-plan living extension. Janik says the entire design of the kitchen, dining and living revolved around having a huge bookshelf. “Originally it started off in the dining room, but being space conscious decided to move it into the living room and use it as the TV/media cabinet also,” he says.

In an age when so many of the houses we see on Instagram and in media start to look so same-same and devoid of any display of the personality and interests of its occupants, I love that Janik’s wall of shelving is refreshingly personal; a feature that reveals a lot about the person who lives there. If you hadn’t met Janik, you could look at the wall and feel like you kind of know this guy; taking clues from the MarioKart game waiting in the Nintendo 64, the pack of Cards of Humanity and the bottle of Chivas Regal, the robot collection or the assortment of tiny cacti growing in plastic dinosaurs. “I think overall the house has a fun, bright, young feel to it, which very much reflects the kind of person I am,” admits Janik.

Janik describes the house pre-renovation as a rabbit warren. “The floor plan was confusing and there was room after room with copious amount of wasted space and areas you just couldn’t finish well,” he says. “The inside was dark and gloomy which was a combination of the small rooms, the colour palette and the fact that the house didn’t take full advantage of the north-facing rear.”

BEFORE: I have to agree with Janik's friends and family... I don't think I could have seen the potential in this house either!

AFTER

FISHY FISHY FISHY: The quirky colourful painting by the kitchen wall was by Amok Island and is bound to bring forth a smile – on the sides of the canvas he has painted the insides of the fish. Photos by Dion Photography.

The main objective was to open the house up to create not only a more user friendly layout but a lighter and brighter feel throughout. Other objectives included adding more storage, particularly in the existing two bedrooms which had none, adding a third bedroom/study, a second bathroom, bring the outside laundry inside house and then creating a backyard that could be used for entertaining.

The extensive work took place in two stages over the next three years, with time snatched away from work whenever possible. Janik says he is indebted to his dad John Dalecki, who runs construction business DMS. “I owner-built the home with my dad’s help and a lot of it,” he tells me. “Together we did everything from the demolition, the paving, installing the timber floorboards, Gyprocking walls and ceiling, installing the cornice, fitting new windows, new roof sheeting, gutters, downpipes - really 90 percent of the work was done by him and myself.”

AFTER

PICTURE PERFECT: The elevation received an amazing makeover that rendered it unrecognisable! The beautiful tuckpointing was by Cottage Tuck Pointing, 0417 962 007 or (08) 9201 2491. The concrete driveway was by Jag Concrete Services, 0419 049 378. The roof, wall and floor carpentry was by Riccadonna Carpentry Services, 0413 225 543.

The biggest challenge, he says, finding enough time to work on the house around work and other commitments. And the old house decided to throw up some other fun challenges, too.

“Oh gosh, where to start,” says Janik. “The best one would have to be when we removed the back old rear laundry and toilet addition. In doing this part of the bathroom ceiling was exposed and by part I mean very little at all, as this bathroom was the next room that was going to be coming down, but we had to wait till the new bathrooms were built and working first.

"Anyway we had a freak downpour of rain one night and I remember hearing this creak and then my dog’s little footsteps as he was slipping about trying to grip on the floorboards and make a getaway, followed by a massive crash and bang - yep the bathroom ceiling had come down. The little portion of exposed ceiling had gotten some water in it which soaked up the ceiling insulation and then the weight pulled the ceiling down. After the mess was cleaned it was actually quite nice as there was now a kind of rustic skylight which stayed operational while the new bathrooms were finished!”

Clad in Scyon, the house was a finalist in the BDAWA James Hardie Award 2016. Scyon Linea™ cladding retains the original aesthetic of the cottage (painted in Dulux Lexicon 400%), allowing Janik to give the facade a contemporary makeover while keeping a classic look.

Clad in Scyon, the house was a finalist in the BDAWA James Hardie Award 2016. Scyon Linea™ cladding retains the original aesthetic of the cottage (painted in Dulux Lexicon 400%), allowing Janik to give the facade a contemporary makeover while keeping a classic look.

Janik is an award-winning building designer who’s been in the profession for more than ten years, so I ask him to share his top renovating tip with other house nerds. “Don’t start any work until you have a solid plan of all the work you want to do,” he advises. “Have a clear picture of what you want - the amount and type of rooms, function of the rooms - and the end result. Too many times before have I seen people start renovating then decide they wish to add something on or renovate something else in the house but are left working around what they have already done. It’s easier to start with as clear a palette as you can.” Maya x

Looking for a designer? Janik offers building, interior and spatial design and can do everything from pre design phase all the way through to completion. Contact him through Dalecki Design or on 0410 100 096. He can be found on Instagram at @dalecki_design.

HOME LOWDOWN

THE OWNER

HIS HOME

A fully renovated 1940s character cottage with a modern open-plan living

LOCATION

Maylands, WA

PURCHASED

2012

FEATURES

Front and back verandas, open-plan kitchen, living and dining, three bedrooms, concrete benchtops, jarrah floors, high ceilings

THE DESIGNER

Janik is a building designer who runs his own business Dalecki Design. He oversaw the renovation and extension owner-builder and did the interiors. You can follow Janik on Instagram @dalecki_design or contact him at hello@daleckidesign.com.au or on 0410 100 096.

THE BUILDER

Janik owner-built the renovation and extension with his dad John Dalecki, who runs construction company DMS. You can contact John on 0416 040 157 or at zeetonholdings@gmail.com

Very nicely done! I have two questions - I am trying to figure how was the brick fireplace updated. The Before shows just dark bricks but the After looks very different. The brick looks lighter in the middle and it looks as if something dark was oozing around the edges (yet the grout is white). I can't figure it out! Also, the front of the house (near the peak of the A roof) there was a hydro wire - where did it get relocated? Is it now underground? Thanks for the house tour!

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Billie - Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 1:24PM

That technique on the bricks is called tuckpointing. Very common on federation homes

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Sally - Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 7:11AM

What a great job! The new open feel is lovely.
It looks like some asbestos work was probably involved, it would be good to hear how this was done. Always good to get an asbestos check done for 1940s-1980s places.

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Lisa - Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 4:01PM

Fantastic! Love that the front windows were replaced and weather-board reinstated to restore the facade to its former heritage glory.

You're not a nube! When I first started doing houses I had no idea what people meant when they banged on about north-facing light. I feel like I'm not going to explain this very well, but northern light is the most desirable and in particular a north-facing rear is a big plus because in Australia we now tend to position our main living areas at the back of the home. Houses that are said to receive lots of northern light generally tend to feel lovely and light-filled throughout the whole day and it is also good for achieving a solar passive home. Whereas on the other hand, houses that have a west-facing or east-facing rear might have 'problems' with too much sun in the morning or too much sun in the late evening - for example, certain west-facing rooms in my parents' old house get really hot in summer evenings! :)

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Lesley - Monday, April 25, 2016 at 8:24AM

This is an amazing renovation! I live in Maylands in a similarly dumpy house and have seen so many of these old cottages torn down in the last few years with the result that the streetscape is totally altered. This just shows how these houses can be retained and upgraded to suit our modern standard of living.
I had to laugh when I saw the 'before' photos, my house was even worse hahaha!! Our friends had similar horrible comments to make about our place too! We have renovated it ourselves (definitely not to this standard though) to make it liveable for now - with the intention of doing a proper reno in the future, so this post has given me a lot of inspiration. Well done Janik!